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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25452019">love, like you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/VelvetineWitch/pseuds/VelvetineWitch'>VelvetineWitch</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Catra Goes to Therapy (She-Ra), F/F, F/M, Future Fic, Happy Ending, Light Angst, POV Catra (She-Ra), Post-Canon, and adora giving her gifts because she's bad at feelings, i wanted to expand on the scene tm and got carried away, so here's catra thinking she doesn't deserve adora, they... are trying their hardest</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:08:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,468</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25452019</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/VelvetineWitch/pseuds/VelvetineWitch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She turns her head and looks at Adora, piled amongst Glimmer and Bow, their limbs all intertwined. Glimmer snores loudly, but Bow just snuggles closer to her. Adora is fidgety in her sleep. She always has been, like she’s fighting even while she dreams. Maybe she is, maybe that heroic nature is just so ingrained in her that it’ll follow her forever.</p><p>There’s a little space for Catra there, somewhere. A spot reserved for her, since the day she was found in a cardboard box and Adora insisted they become best friends. A reservation that’s been waiting since Adora ran off and slept here, without Catra- she wonders if it was hard for Adora to sleep alone, like it was for her. </p><p>Catra doesn’t end up joining her. She falls asleep wondering if she’d belong at Adora’s feet or beside her, head resting on Adora’s chest. She doesn’t want to know.</p><p>or, Catra learns to cope with sleeping on the hero’s chest instead of laying at her feet, longing, through a strange substance called "cheesecake."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adora &amp; Bow &amp; Catra &amp; Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow &amp; Glimmer (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>206</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>love, like you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Catra knocks her fist against the metal door twice. She waits for it to open, studying the nails on her hands. There are small scratches across her skin, the palm, running up her fingers. She’s not entirely certain what they’re from- the First One’s security system, probably. She hates them; they’re small, like shards of glass, or paper cuts. Eventually, they’ll fade away, and then, maybe, the wounds that run deeper will fall back with them. She doesn’t know if that’s a good or bad thing, not yet. </p><p>The door opens. “Catra?” Glimmer asks. She rubs at her eyes. It’s obvious she was just about to go to sleep, or maybe she was already in bed. Her hair is a mess, the length where it poofs up when uncared for. Taking a brush through it would destroy the brush. Catra’s hair is the better length, where all Adora does is run her fingers through it and suddenly it’s perfect. “Do you need something?” Glimmer yawns, cupping her hand over her mouth.</p><p>“I was thinking we could all have a sleepover,” Catra says. She shifts her weight awkwardly. “You know, like you said, your perfect day?” Her eyes flicker to the windows in Glimmer’s room, showing the stars in the sky. “Uh, night.”</p><p>Glimmer gives her a knowing look. Catra isn’t lying, per se. She really does want the sleepover like Glimmer suggested. She’s been craving it since the thought was in the air. At first, Glimmer wasn’t included, just Adora- Adora, who she knew she could never have because Adora didn’t want the old days, when Catra curled up at her feet and felt there was nowhere else this safe in the world, even when Adora kicked her- but the want was still there. </p><p>That isn’t the biggest reason Catra is here, and they both know it.</p><p>She <i>hates</i> the castle. It’s just like the Horde had been before this whole fiasco happened. When Catra would race through the halls and get yelled at by everyone she passed for being a kid, unless she was with Adora, her only safety net, the only thing keeping her from being the outcast, and even then, it spared her none of the looks. She’s seen the ones members of the Rebellion give her. Catra doesn’t belong here. They only tolerate her because she’s with Glimmer, and more importantly, She-Ra. Always She-Ra.</p><p>So yeah. She doesn’t trust being alone, not yet. Not in this place. Maybe it had become home for Adora, but Catra is still a stranger to this life. She can’t wait until they leave for their Best Friend Squad field trip, or… whatever. </p><p>Glimmer yawns again. “Okay,” she says. “Should we grab Adora and Bow?”</p><p>Catra snorts. “I doubt they’d ever forgive us for having a sleepover without them.”</p><p>Before she even realizes what’s happening, Glimmer grabs her hand and they disappear in an array of sparkles, much to her displeasure (she <i>thought<i> Glimmer promised to warn her next time).</i></i></p><p>
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</p><p>Later, when Glimmer and Bow have fallen asleep in the middle of a game of Truth or Dare- which had been quite the experience to learn- Catra sits on one of the big window sills. Glimmer teased her about that habit once. </p><p>She can see the Whispering Woods below her. It's down there, further into the cool colors where little dots of light follow Adora around like she’s a magnet, down there where this all began. Catra wonders if that’s the first time Adora left her; when she went off on her own after that sword and never really came back. Maybe she’d already left her long before then.</p><p>As if summoned by Catra’s brooding, the weight of Adora’s hand falls on her shoulder. It takes everything in Catra not to flinch. Normally she knows when someone is coming up behind her. She's losing her touch. “Are you tired yet?” Adora asks.</p><p>Catra doesn’t answer for a long moment. “I don’t need to sleep,” she says finally, tearing her eyes away from the forest to look at Adora.</p><p>Her hair is messy just like Glimmers. Strands are falling out of the high ponytail she always captures them in, but she won’t take the tie out. Adora, unlike Catra, will probably never cut her hair, because that’s how she stays in control of her life. Catra, in comparison, lost that control when Horde Prime took over. So to get it back, she cut it further. Cathartic, in its own special way.</p><p>Adora raises an eyebrow at her. “Uh,” she starts, “I’m pretty sure you do, but whatever you say.”</p><p>Catra rolls her eyes. “Seriously,” she says. “Just go to sleep without me. I’ll sleep eventually.”</p><p>Adora studies her eyes for a minute, looking for something. She doesn’t seem to find it, because she sighs. “Just…” she trails off. “Join me when you’re ready, k?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Catra says, lying. her lack of hesitation to do so is proving her own point. “Yeah, I will.”</p><p>“Goodnight,” Adora says. “Loser.” She leans forward and kisses her on the top of her head, then disappears back to Glimmer and Bow. </p><p>Catra almost stops her. She doesn’t know what she would say if she did.<i> I was afraid of loving you before because I thought you’d never love me back. Now I’m afraid you’ll love me and I won’t deserve it. </i>She couldn’t tell that to Adora; she’s too kind, too heroic, too caring for her own good. She’d destroy herself trying to prove that Catra deserved it. She’d lie and pretend and do everything Catra knows she’s better for not doing (it's what makes Adora so <i>good</i> compared to Catra, who wouldn't hesitate to do these things). No. It's better to bottle it all up until she dies.</p><p>She turns her head and looks at Adora, piled amongst Glimmer and Bow, their limbs all intertwined. Glimmer snores loudly, but Bow just snuggles closer to her. Adora is fidgety in her sleep. She always has been, like she’s fighting even while she dreams. Maybe she is, maybe that heroic nature is just so ingrained in her that it’ll follow her forever.</p><p>There’s a little space for Catra there, somewhere. A spot reserved for her, since the day she was found in a cardboard box and Adora insisted they become best friends. A reservation that’s been waiting since Adora ran off and slept here, without Catra. She wonders if it was hard for Adora to sleep alone, like it was for her. </p><p>Catra doesn’t end up joining her. She falls asleep wondering if she’d belong at Adora’s feet or beside her, head resting on Adora’s chest. She doesn’t want to know.</p><p>-</p><p>Catra avoids Adora for a week. It’s not that she doesn’t spend time with her, because Catra isn't strong enough to resist the constant urge to be around Adora, to see her laugh be the one who caused it. But she doesn’t sit by her, not even to annoy her. She doesn’t sleep near her, just at the window, or with Melog instead. She almost doesn’t even join the Best Friend Squad (as they call themselves, for some reason) on their adventures outside of the castle to fix the mistakes that Catra started, but then the guilt settles in, and Catra finds herself going more often than anyone else. It gives her a reason to be preoccupied.</p><p>It takes a week for Adora to get frustrated. She confronts Catra in the hallway. Normally, Catra sneaks back in with Melog, invisible. But he’s decided to push her forward, right around the corner where Adora is just about to turn.</p><p><i>Very helpful,</i> Catra thinks. She goes to scowl at Melog, but he’s disappeared.</p><p>Adora clears her throat, drawing her attention. “Hey, Catra, funny seeing you here,” she says sardonically. “What brings you to Bright Moon?”</p><p>“Just doing my good deeds of the day,” Catra says blandly. She moves to walk past Adora, but Adora steps to the side, blocking her way.</p><p>“What is your deal?” she demands. “I thought we finally figured ourselves out. And now you’re- you’re just ignoring me? This is worse than you trying to kill me, Catra.”</p><p>Catra hisses at the reminder. “Go <i>away</i>, Adora,” she says. “Go back to being with your perfect friends and doing whatever perfect things you do.” She pushes past her and walks down the hall, careful to go slow so it doesn’t seem like she’s running away. Adora watches her go. Probably.</p><p> It's later and she’s hanging out with Scorpia and Entrapta when Scorpia pulls Entrapta away, much to her confusion, ditching Catra with strange side eyes. Catra is left alone for a full minute before her ears perk up. She curses Scorpia in her head. What kind of friend makes you talk about feelings with your girlfriend? Scorpia and Entrapta were betraying her like she betrayed them. <i> Revenge, </i> Catra decides darkly. <i> This is what you get. </i></p><p>“Catra,” Adora says forcefully from behind her. It doesn’t have the venom it should. “Sit down and listen to me, please.”</p><p><i>You’ve never listened to anyone in your life,</i> she had said. That’s one of the few things Catra remembers from their fight when she was under Horde Prime’s control; Adora, reaching for her, her hair down, tears in her eyes but a smile on her face when Catra called her an idiot.</p><p><i>No,</i> Catra thinks, her throat tight. <i>I’ve listened to</i> you.</p><p>So she sits down next to Adora on a nearby bench, but she’s careful to keep a little space in between them, and Adora must notice, because she doesn’t bridge it. “I love you,” she says, “but I thought <i>I</i> was the idiot here.”</p><p>“You are,” Catra says. She doesn’t look at Adora.</p><p>“So what am I doing wrong?”</p><p>Catra doesn’t answer for a long time. “I don’t know where I’m supposed to sleep when I’m with you,” she says finally.</p><p>Adora takes a while to process this. She scans Catra, searching for whether she’s telling the truth or hiding it behind a random statement- she must decide it’s the former, because she leans back. “You can sleep right next to me, dork,” she says softly. “That’s where you belong.”</p><p>
  <i>Together.</i>
</p><p>And Catra, Catra is accomplished at being stubborn. It’s in her nature. So instead of taking Adora’s words to heart, she ignores them, because she’s always been exceptional when it comes to ignoring what Adora says, even if she listened. So for a while, she doesn’t sleep beside Adora.</p><p>She wants her own bed. Her own place in the world. She wants the independence of not needing to rest her head on Adora’s chest and listen to her heartbeat and feel the tide of her breath make her rise and fall in a pattern that lulls her to sleep. She wants to say, <i>you left me, so now I have this bed, I have this bed and it’s mine, not yours, even if the memory of you still hangs over it like a white sheets ghost.</i> She wants to know that she’ll never drive Adora away by being undeserving of her love; she’ll drive her away on <i>purpose.</i></p><p>So Adora sleeps alone, and Catra steals a pillow and lets her back ache from the floor, or a chair, or from leaning against a wall with her head holding the pillow up. Glimmer should be making fun of her. She just looks disappointed.</p><p>But Adora is stubborn too. She’s always slept restlessly, but now she uses it to her advantage. She wakes up late at night and notices that Catra has moved further away. She gets up and moves next to her. Catra shuffles away again when she thinks Adora has fallen back asleep. Repeat.</p><p>She’s always just an inch away, too, but still directly beside her. Even if Catra chooses the most uncomfortable spot. Adora will still be there when she wakes up, their pinkies entwined, Adora’s head lolled forward in a position that will make her neck cramp when she wakes.</p><p><i>Stop</i>, Catra wants to say.<i> Stop trying so hard.</i></p><p><i>Stay</i>, Catra thinks, immediately after, then squashes the thought down.</p><p>It’s one of these nights when Catra wakes up and Adora isn’t there. She sneaks out of the room and into the hallway. There’s a light on in another room further down the hall, one of the many dining rooms spread through the castle. Catra lingers in the doorway, peering inside.</p><p>Adora is seated at one of the chairs that surrounds a long wooden table. She’s eating, but just as Catra considers walking back to the room, Adora stands and heads towards the door. Catra ducks behind one of the decorative plants that side the door, holding her breath as Adora walks past and back to their room.</p><p>She disappears from sight. Catra sticks her head back into the room and rolls her eyes, because <i>of course</i> Adora forgot to put away her plate. She always forgets that some poor guard or staff has to clean up after her.</p><p>She goes to pick up the plate and bring it to the kitchen, but stops. There’s something on it, some sort of red frosted cake in a triangular shape with brown stuff encrusting the end. A little handwritten note sits beside it, reading, <i>For Catra</i>, with a poorly done doodle of her, like the ones they drew all over Horde walls when they were kids.</p><p>Flies could get on it. Someone could decide that they want the cake and don’t care about who it was intended for. Someone could dislike Catra enough to take it in order to spite her. There are so many flaws with leaving this here, but that’s not what Catra thinks in the moment.</p><p>No. It’s about then that Catra realizes, <i>oh. She’s not kidding.</i> And then feels stupid. And then gets angry. And then sits at the table and eats the strange substance, crying, because whatever it is- “cheesecake,” Bow explains later, when she describes it to him and he showers her in pity for not knowing- Adora managed to guess what ingredients Catra would like most. It’s even spicy, which Bow says is not normal, but Catra thinks makes it all the better. And Adora made it specifically for her.</p><p>Catra slips back into the room and eyes the space beside Adora, who’s asleep on the tiled floor, only a pillow to cushion her head. She looks around the room for a blanket. There's a nice, large one that has art of She-Ra sewn into it. Catra takes a minute to snort at the vanity of it all. She gently places the blanket over Adora, then, awkwardly, slits herself into her spot beneath Adora’s arm. When she wakes to the sunlight beaming in through the windows, Adora has pulled her closer in her sleep.</p><p>Later, Catra will quietly ask Adora to teach her how to make that "cheesecake." Adora will pull her into the kitchen, and the workers will clear out, more-so out of fear than respect. They've seen what horrors the next generation of princesses can do when gifted a stove. So Catra and Adora are alone, the heat of the oven rising through the air, their adrenaline rushing from baking because Catra nearly started a fire and Adora thought being She-Ra would automatically put it out. Bow later has to explain fire safety to the Horde kids. An hour passes and they give up. Adora admits that it took her twelve tries to get that cheesecake right, and she did it hoping Catra would understand the sentiment. Catra stares at her, smiles, and kisses her. They put music on. They dance. Glimmer interrupts to make sure they eat real food, and not just poorly created dough that drips from the spoon in unnatural ways. They spend three hours cleaning up their mess between Adora and Catra's cooking and the food war that ensues after. Catra swipes a bit of sugar off of Adora's cheek and decides, in that moment, that nothing in the world is better than spicy cheesecake. </p><p>-</p><p>It's just before Scorpia’s ball, the only reason they haven’t disappeared off to the distant galaxy yet (“We can’t miss it,” Glimmer says, and her word is law). Adora has turned back to the water. She’s staring into her reflection unblinkingly, her mind somewhere else. It’s just her and Catra left in the room now, Glimmer and Bow having disappeared to head to the ball. Catra steps up beside her, bumps her hip.</p><p>That seems to wake Adora up. She blinks and turns her head to look at Catra. Her hair is down, falling past her shoulders. It used to fall into her eyes before Catra bought her that little crown, reminded of She-Ra. It was fitting. </p><p>“What’s on your mind?”</p><p>Adora shrugs half-heartedly. “When we destroyed the Heart of Etheria, I saw this. Us. I thought it was just a doomed wish, you know?”</p><p>Catra swallows. “What’s with the prophetic vision, Prince Peakablue?”</p><p>Adora’s lip tilts up into a smirk, but it’s small, and it slips away when that distant expression returns. It’s almost as if she’s thinking about everything they have and what they almost lost. She reaches forward and cradles Catra’s cheek, and Catra leans into the touch like she has a thousand times. Adora pulls her hands away and tugs Catra into a hug, holding her close. “I never thought we’d have this,” she whispers into her ear. </p><p>“I’m glad we do,” Catra says. “Sorry for making it take so long.”</p><p>For a few minutes, it’s just them and the water in the background, and the rest of the world seems to melt away. When they finally pull apart from each other, Catra heads towards the door, expecting Adora to fall in step beside her.</p><p>But she doesn’t. “Hey, Catra,” Adora says from behind her. The pause between the words is the only thing keeping Catra away from laughing at the phrase. “One more thing before we go.”</p><p>Catra turns to look at her, raising an eyebrow when she sees that Adora still hasn’t moved. “We’re going to be late to the ball,” she says. “Glimmer is going to yell at us if we take any longer.”</p><p>She shrugs. “She’ll be <i>fine</i>.” Her voice does that little thing where she drags that word out, then ends the statement with a sort of laugh, a <i>pfft</i>, to be more accurate. “But your wardrobe isn’t complete.” </p><p>Catra crosses her arms. “Oh?”</p><p>“I had it commissioned by this one super cool blacksmith in Excravia.” Adora says. She reaches into a pocket in her dress that Catra hadn’t even known was there, although she isn’t surprised, and pulls out a bracelet. “I didn’t think you’d want a necklace, so I got you this,” she says.</p><p>Catra reaches up involuntarily, her fingers gracing the back of her neck, bare skin. She can still feel the weight of the chip digging into her. Adora is right; a necklace would feel the same, would make her constantly scared that something was scratching at her mind from behind.</p><p>Adora looks at her expectantly, the bracelet still clutched in her hands. Catra holds hers out, watching as Adora gently slides it over her fingers and leaves the gold to rest, dangling from her wrist.</p><p>The bracelet is made of golden wires intertwined, spinning together a vine-like design with leaves branching off. It all ties together around a red gem cut into the shape of a heart, the same kind of gem on Adora’s thin crown. She can see lines scratched into the leaves, thin little veins that all read the same word.</p><p>“The inscriptions all say-”</p><p>“I know what it says,” Catra says softly. It was glowing across Adora’s chest when Catra was afraid of losing her, when Catra engrained the memory of Adora into her mind, when Catra realized that this was the first time losing her would mean losing her love, and not just the opportunity to have it. “I’m not stupid, stupid.”</p><p>“I think you’re pretty smart,” Adora says. Her grin is tilted with a familiar mischief. It reminds Catra of them from what seems like forever ago, kids in the Horde, causing chaos and filling those desolate halls with laughter. “You’re in love with me, right?”</p><p>Catra punches her lightly with her decorated hand, purposely angling her wrist so the light catches the red. It’ll take some getting used to. Catra prides herself on looking good, but she’s never worn jewelry before. Adora punches her back playfully; she has to hold back to stop from bruising Catra on accident (which is way more attractive than it should be). “I am,” Catra says finally. “I’m way too in love with you, you dork. How did I manage to get you to love me back?”</p><p>Sometimes Catra thinks, <i> you are too good for me. </i> She’s thought it since they were kids, and as they aged, the thought only gained more evidence- Adora was a hero, and Catra was rotten, the skin of an apple turned brown and left in the sun while Adora went on to be everything she’d always thought she could be. Still, Adora had too much faith in her, even after all that she’d done. Even after trying to destroy the world and destroying lives with it. For a while, she’d been afraid of loving someone as good as Adora. As noble, as self-sacrificial as Adora, who was a beam of gold where Catra was scratch marks on the wall. </p><p>“I ask myself that every day,” Adora teases. She wiggles her eyebrows. “But then I remember who you are and that's all the answers I need.”</p><p>Catra is okay with loving a hero. It makes her want to be just as good as her.</p><p>“Gross,” Glimmer calls from the door. Catra jumps a full foot in surprise, her hair sticking straight up. “Stop flirting and hurry up!”</p><p>Catra sticks her tongue out at Glimmer and Adora laughs, grabbing her hand, tugging her towards the door as Catra angrily straightens out her fur. Bow is waiting for them outside, and as they walk down the hall they fall into formation: Glimmer beside Bow, Catra beside Adora, the Best Friends Squad together.</p><p>That night, Adora’s attention is focused on staring up at the ceiling. She’s lying on her back, hair spilling across the floor, crown thrown onto a nearby chair after they returned from Scorpia’s ball, alongside the jacket that Catra stole from Adora and the clothes they traded out for pajamas. “Do you think I’m being self-absorbed?” she asks.</p><p>Catra knows it’s been worrying Adora; she’s scared that she’s being egotistical, thinking she can go out and bring magic to the rest of the world that easily. That she thinks the world needs her. “You? Self-absorbed?” Catra snickers. “<i>Never</i>.”</p><p>Adora doesn’t look away from the ceiling when she reaches her arm over and punches at Catra’s shoulder. The curl of her lips is gentle. Catra <i> missed </i> that smile. </p><p>Catra props herself up on her elbow. “The universe doesn’t need you if you don’t want to do this,” she says. It’s survived this long without magic. Adora has sacrificed so much to save it, she’s allowed to stop at any point. No more cliffs.</p><p>Adora tries shaking her head, but the motion is hard with her head on the floor, and it makes Catra struggle not to laugh. “I want to,” Adora says. “I want to go out and fight without the stakes being high- I want it to be a real field trip, where we help people and eat whatever the heck Glimmer made the other day, and the world doesn’t end if we take a small break.”</p><p>“And have parties,” Catra adds.</p><p>Adora tilts her head to look at her. “And have parties,” she agrees. </p><p>They lay there for a while, Melog curled in a ball at their feet. At some point, the space between them is bridged, and Catra’s head rests on Adora’s chest. Back in the Horde, they were far apart, even then. Adora at the head of the bed, Catra at the end. There was only that lingering longing to be beside her. Catra used to think it was just her wanting, desperately, her own bed. Her own place in the world. Alone. But that wasn’t independence, that was bitterness. That was, <i> you left me, so now I have this bed, I have this bed and it’s mine, not yours, even if the memory of you still hangs over it like a white sheets ghost. </i> That was, <i> I will revel in being able to sleep without you here because I can, not because I want to. </i> It took her a long time to tack that last part on. The realization that she never wanted Adora gone- just closer. And then she was scared of that closeness, because it's easier to build a gap when there isn't one there to begin with, easier to tear things apart when the material is still whole.</p><p>She can feel her heartbeat beneath her, can feel Adora breathing, and is comforted by the rhythm. It means Adora is here. She hasn’t run off and sacrificed herself to save the world without Catra. She stayed.</p><p>But, “I’m scared this is all going to be taken from me again,” Adora whispers.</p><p>Catra adjusts her head on her chest. “What will be?” she asks. She thinks she knows, but she has to hear it voiced.</p><p>“This love,” Adora says. “I’m scared they’ll need She-Ra again and I’ll have to throw myself away for it all.”</p><p>It’s strange how once, all she knew was that fear. That Adora would leave her, and, when she did, that she’d never come back. She blamed herself for every step away that Adora took in the opposite direction, before she realized that Adora was always trying to coax Catra into coming with her. Adora didn’t know how to stay and rot, not like Catra did, so she threw herself forward even when she deserved the chance to stop, even when the path led her to cliffs. They were opposites in that way. Catra liked the cliff she stood on. Adora went searching for more. </p><p>“It won’t happen,” Catra says. She’s confident in her words. “We’re finished with you throwing yourself away for other people. You deserve a future too.” <i> We deserve a future, </i> she thinks, and is pleased to find that she believes herself.</p><p>“Funny,” Adora says. Her voice is whispery now, like she’s about to fall asleep. “Mara said something similar.”</p><p>“You’d better listen to us, then.” </p><p>Adora’s breathing levels out eventually, but not before she’s stolen Catra’s hand and held it to her chest, bracelet and all. Catra yawns and lets her eyes flutter shut. They sleep.</p>
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